Collectibles
by EmbracingRain
Summary: Katara, Zuko, and fifteen little glimpses into their life together.
1. Save You

A/N: This is just a little project that popped into my head (yay for plot bunnies!). It's a series of related oneshots. The title comes from the fact that I was going to originally post all of these on their own. I changed my mind, though, and now they're all in one collection. This is the first of fifteen, so there's fourteen more to go after this. I hope you enjoy reading them!

* * *

Collectibles

**Save You**

Song Number Four: Leave out All the Rest by Linkin Park

Quote:_ When my times comes/Forget the wrong that I've done/Help me leave behind some/Reasons to be missed_

Summary: Zuko thought this was it. Katara thought differently.

* * *

Pain.

Scorching, smothering, body-wracking pain.

Zuko didn't even realize that his body was convulsing as Azula's lightning shot through his veins, burning through his chest and making it nearly impossible to breathe. In the increasing distance, he heard Azula and Katara exchanging bitter words and then a loud shriek.

He was vaguely aware of thrusting his hand out into the air, trying to reach out to the waterbender whose life he'd just saved. Pain ricocheted through his torso as he reached and he let out a cry of pain as bright lights splattered his vision, followed in quick succession by a series of exploding black spots. The firebender's heart squeezed painfully in his chest.

"There you are, _peasant_," he heard his sister spit out, her voice echoing in his ears as though he were listening to her from the bottom of a well.

He had to get there! He had to help Katara! She shouldn't have to face Azula alone! This was _his _responsibility. It was _his_ fight. Azula was ruthless, Azula was cruel. Zuko's fading thoughts flooded with worries for the waterbender. He couldn't just leave her to die at the hands of his own flesh and blood.

"K-K'tar…K-K-K'tara," he choked on her name, roasted chest heaving. The hand he had extended in what he assumed to be her direction rocked with another spasm as he convulsed again.

Every nerve in his body was on fire, electrocuted.

Minutes passed in seconds, or maybe it was seconds passing in minutes. Zuko didn't know anymore. Time had simply ceased to hold any meaning to him.

There was a roar. A blast of heat.

"_Zuko!!!_"

Katara's agitated scream hardly reached his ears.

He shut his eyes, waiting for the inevitable.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Katara whimpered as she collapsed to her knees by Zuko's twitching body. His face was contorted with pain she couldn't even begin to fathom. With tentative, scared hands, she lifted him off of his stomach and rolled him onto his back. Her arms screamed with the effort. The firebender was mostly muscle and Katara hadn't expected him to be quite so heavy.

"Zuko. Zuko…Zuko…" His name was a mantra that carried on a whisper from her mouth. "Zuko…"

Tears began streaming from her eyes in salty torrents as they landed on the gaping, star-shaped wound on his ribcage that was oozing blood. Steam was rolling off of it; his blood was soaking his singed shirt and seeping into the dirt he had been laying face down on.

"Oh, spirits! Zuko! Oh, for the love of Tui and La!"

For one more brief second, she stared at the gaping hole in the firebender's chest before turning to the side and promptly bringing up everything she had eaten so far that day. The whole thing was just too gruesome.

Chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath, Katara shakily managed to uncork her water skin after several tries. The cork rolled away from her and across the arena. She paid it no mind and gloved her hands in the cooling substance.

Behind her, Azula was releasing her anger in spray after spray of fire from her mouth.

"Spirits, don't let me be too late!" She pressed her hands to the wound in Zuko's chest, hardly reassured by the fact that his heart was still beating faintly. Sobs shuddered through her body and tears blurred her blue eyes, but she kept her concentration on the hole, sending her prayers to the water spirits that Zuko was going to be okay. "Please, Zuko! _Please!_ Don't _do_ this to me! _Please_ be okay! _Please!!_"

The hole in Zuko's chest was closing up; he wasn't bleeding quite so fiercely. But for one horrifying second, his heart stopped.

And Katara lost it.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Pain.

Muted, but still there.

His chest was still throbbing sharply, but the convulsions were gone.

There were still brief flashes of heat and desperate growls from somewhere near his feet, but what concerned him most was the broken-hearted sobbing that was coming from above him. It sounded like a girl and she smelled familiar.

"M-mom?"

The sobs worsened. Zuko didn't dare open his eyes just yet. Instead, he reached out a shaking hand that collided with a mass of soft hair.

"M-mom?"

The breath of the girl hitched and there was a watery chuckle. "I-it w-wouldn't be…be the f-first time th-that some-someone t-took me for their…mother."

Zuko cracked open his eyes. Katara was staring at him with such horror in her big, blue eyes that, for one moment, he almost thought he was dead. There was a twisted sort of smile on her tearstained face that left her with a sort of bizarre beauty that didn't suit her at all.

"…Katara," he breathed and watched as she pressed a fist to her mouth and bent over him, long brown hair whispering over his tender skin. "C'mon, Katara…don't-don't cry!"

This only made the waterbender cry harder.

"Katara, you can't-don't… I'm not… It's okay?" Zuko offered up.

Katara wailed, burying her face in his shoulder. He could feel hot, salty tears rolling down his neck. Awkwardly patting her shoulder, Zuko did his best to comfort the girl that had become one of his very best friends. He had never been good with emotional girls, especially ones that cried. Worse, he'd never seen Katara display much more than anger. She hadn't ever really _cried_ around him before. It was weird. It made him more uncomfortable than the pain that was shooting through his chest.

Gently taking hold of her arm, Zuko pushed Katara her away ever so slightly and offered her a small smile. He reached up with his free hand and wiped the tears off of her cheeks as she sniffled.

"Thank you, Katara."

She returned his smile mournfully and helped him sit up. "I think _I'm_ the one who should be thanking _you_. You…saved my life."

Zuko snorted and then winced as it strained his wound. He attempted to push himself up off the ground, but Katara beat him to it. As she stood up, she held out her hands and he reluctantly took them, hating the fact that he had to rely on her aid. Especially when she seemed a bit strained as she hauled him to his feet.

He lifted a hand and pushed her hair behind her ear, his hand lingering on her cheek. "You don't have to thank me for anything."

"I have _everything_ to thank you for lately," Katara replied with a wide smile. "First, you help Aang learn firebending, and then you help Sokka find our dad and Suki, and then that…that thing with the monster who killed my mother." She stared at her feet for a few moments, digging her toe into the dirt. "And now…this." Katara shrugged. "You just never seem to give up on trying to win someone over, even after you already have. I can't just…let someone like you go. I'd…miss you too much."

An anguished, manic scream emitted from Azula's mouth, followed by a stream of fire and several dry, heaving sobs, interrupting what Zuko was about to say. The pair of benders diverted their attention to the disturbed Fire Princess and watched on as she sank further into madness, knowing that there was nothing they could do to save her.

Later, as Katara swept out of the infirmary after bandaging his wound more thoroughly (_There's gonna be a scar_, she'd told him, eyes not meeting his. But this time it was okay, because that scar was for her and her alone and not for his father's pride), Zuko thought to himself, _You don't have to thank me for anything, Katara. When you care about someone like this…stuff like saving your life…that just doesn't need a thank you._


	2. Afraid

A/N: Here's the second one-shot. Each of these is inspired by a song. I put my iPod on shuffle and took the first fifteen songs and turned them into prompts. I hope you enjoy this one! We're moving on to that weird awkwardness that comes with not knowing your own feelings. This was one of my favorites to write, mostly because it was such an awkward scene. Plus, Zuko's got some great snippy comments.

Collectibles

**Afraid**

Song Number Nine: Can't Have You by the Jonas Brothers

Quote: _Don't wanna fall asleep/Don't know if I'll get up…_

Summary: In the end, the only thing that Zuko was afraid of was falling asleep.

* * *

It was a very surprised Katara who walked back into the infirmary around midnight (to make sure Sokka was okay, she'd claimed. But Zuko found that odd seeing as how Sokka wasn't even _in_ the infirmary. Zuko was the only one who _was_) and found that Zuko was propped up against his pillows and staring out the window. He looked up at her as she entered, her hair in disarray and her nightgown (a Fire Nation one, he noted, wondering where she'd gotten the silk creation from) rumpled, signs that she had been tossing and turning.

"You should be asleep," she whispered as she sat down in the chair that was next to his hospital bed. "You'll need all your energy. Your coronation's in a few days."

Zuko frowned. "Can't sleep," he muttered. "You do realize that I'm not Sokka, right?"

"What?"

"Sokka's not in here, Katara. In case you hadn't noticed," he replied with a soft smile. "You don't have to make up excuses. If you came to see me, you came to see me. I don't see what the big deal is."

Katara's face flushed and she slapped his arm lightly. "Oh, shut up, Zuko. You have the biggest ego…"

"Did you?"

"What if I did?" she mumbled, staring resolutely at her hands.

Zuko shrugged, wincing as the wound on his torso was shot through with currents of pain. "I don't mind. It's nice to have company when you can't sleep."

"I can't either." The smile the waterbender gave him was rueful. "You have me worried sick."

"There's nothing to worry about, Katara. I'm alive, aren't I?"

"That's not the point!" Katara retorted, a harsh bite to the tone of her voice. "Would you quite being so…so _nonchalant_ about it?! You almost _died_ because of me!"

"_For_ you," Zuko corrected her under his breath.

"What?"

"Nothing!"

Katara glared at him dubiously for a few moments before continuing her rant. "You almost _died_, okay? I think I'm allowed to be a little freaked out! Especially because I thought I was too late and that I wasn't going to be able to save you and that you were just going to leave me here _by myself_."

Zuko blinked at her. She looked like she was about to cry again. "Katara. _You_ of _all people_ should know that it's going to take something a bit stronger than a little lightning to get rid of _me_. You could only wish you were that lucky!" He said it cheerfully so as to provide some humor, but it was the wrong approach to take, if the way she burst into tears again was any indication.

"Oh, for the love of _Agni_," the firebender groaned, smacking his forehead.

"D-don't c-c-curse, Zuko," Katara chastised him through her tears. "It's not polite."

"I didn't curse!"

"D-do you know _hic _h-how _terrified_ I w-was earlier?" she demanded, hiccupping in the middle of her sentence and ignoring his denial. "And I'm…I'm _still_ sc-scared! I-I'm a-afraid that if I go to s-sleep, I'll _hic_ wake up in the morning _hic_ and-and you'll b-be _hic_ dead!"

"I'm afraid, too!" Zuko insisted, grabbing her hand and holding it tightly in both of his. "You don't think that I can't sleep because I'm afraid that there's monsters under my bed, do you?! Damn, Katara! I'm just as afraid as you are! Maybe more so! Do you know how fucking _creepy_ it is to be afraid that you'll never wake up if you go to sleep?!"

She was staring at him, slack jawed and wide-eyed. Her hand had gone limp in his. He grumbled to himself for a few moments and then scooted over on the narrow bed, holding back the blankets.

"Just get in."

"Beg pardon?"

"Maybe…maybe we'll both sleep better…together." He tried not to blush as he realized the other implications of his innocent statement.

"Zuko, I hardly think that's appropriate."

"Well, good, 'cause that's _not_ what I meant."

"Oh. Right."

"Yeah. 'Oh. Right.'"

Katara blinked at him, a questioning expression on her pretty face.

"What now?" Zuko sighed.

"Well, I…uh…how do I-?"

"Just _get. In. The bed_, Katara."

She scrambled under the covers, pressing up against him in order to stay on the narrow bed, very red in the face. Zuko relaxed against the pillows, suddenly feeling a lot more tired. He pulled the waterbender close, gritting his teeth against the pain of his movements.

"Good night, Zuko," he heard her murmur.

"Night, Katara."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Zuko was happy to say that, the next morning he woke up and brilliant rays of sunlight were streaming in through the windows and Katara was still curled up next to him. Her hands were clutching his shirt and there was a peaceful smile on her face.

The soon-to-be-Fire-Lord grinned and buried his face in the waterbender's hair, thinking to himself before he slipped back into the familiarity of sleep that maybe being afraid to fall asleep wasn't such a bad thing.

* * *

Right, so. Anybody have a few kind words for me and my writing? I love hearing from you guys!


	3. Dancing With You

Collectibles

**Dancing With You**

Song Number Two: Fall for You by Secondhand Serenade

Quote: _The best thing about tonight's that we're not fighting…_

Summary: Zuko thinks back on the beginning to his rocky friendship with Katara.

* * *

She was resplendent in a Fire Nation dress that was a deep crimson color. It was shockingly simple for such a formal event as his coronation ball, but somehow Katara managed to pull it off. It was trimmed in gold silk, he noticed as he drew closer to her, and there was a pattern of black fire lilies that spread across the bottom hem. It tied around her neck with shockingly thin braids of fabric. She wore her long brunette locks up in a complicated twist at the nape of her neck.

Traditionally, he should have asked his mother for the first dance. Unfortunately for tradition, Ursa was still missing and the dance would fall to Azula. Also unfortunately for tradition, Azula was a bit on the whacko side and was currently locked up in a high-security prison. Tradition then called for an aunt or grandmother or other female relative to be asked to dance. Once again, unfortunately for tradition, Zuko's only female relatives were his mother and sister.

Strictly speaking, he probably should have bestowed the honor upon Mai. After all, everyone thought there was still something going on between Zuko and the knife thrower.

They thought wrong.

So Zuko did the unthinkable.

He decided to ask Katara.

Katara promptly turned about as red as her dress from her hairline to where her skin was covered by the ruby fabric, but she nodded eagerly, blue eyes bright with (was Zuko reading them right?) excitement. He took her hand and led her to the center of the floor (_She's not even Fire Nation!_ he heard one old, bitter woman hiss to her equally old and bitter friend), and they easily fell into the routine. Zuko wasn't surprised that Katara knew how to dance, but he _was_ surprised that she would know how to do one that originated from his nation.

"Surprised?" she asked with a smile that the firebender could only describe as impish.

"Would you hate me if I told you I was?" he joked.

Inside, he was pondering how far they had come from those two tense months at the Western Air Temple. Back then, Katara had threatened his life and he had subsequently taken to doing anything and everything in his power to make her stop hating him-

Katara shrugged, her smile widening. "Well…you know how I can be. Think you wanna take your chances?" she teased.

-and now here they were, joking about the whole thing!

"Where did you learn?"

"Hey, you travel the world, you learn things," the waterbender said nonchalantly. "I'm not as ignorant as you think I am, Hotpants."

Zuko blanched. "_Katara_!"

"What?" the question was entirely too innocent.

"You-you can't just…" Zuko felt himself getting flustered as he dithered about. "You can't just-!"

"I can't just what?" Katara retorted.

Was it him, or did she step a bit closer than was absolutely necessary after she spun back into his arms? And what was that odd look in her eyes?

Zuko felt even more troubled as they kept on with the dance. Katara was making him nervous and he didn't know where she had suddenly pulled the ability to do so from. He'd never been nervous around her before, so why was he starting now?! His panic was growing by small increments, but he tried to not let it show.

"You can't just call me things like-like _that_! We're surrounded by very influential people!"

"Oh, come _on_, Zuko. Don't tell me you're going to start getting all weird and proper now that you're Fire Lord. We're _friends_. Friends can tease each other."

He recalled a time when they weren't friends, but bitter enemies. It was hard to believe that she was here, dancing unnecessarily close to him at his coronation ball and teasing him mercilessly and calling him her friend. Not that he minded! It was just a bit weird.

"Katara, did you get into the cactus juice?"

"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. What's it to you, _your majesty_?" Katara was giggling and he was finding it hard to keep a straight face. She was just the little joker, wasn't she?

"What? A good Fire Lord can't show concern for one of his friends, _peasant_?" Zuko smirked.

Katara's laughter could be heard over the tsungi horns, flutes, drums, and other various instruments and Zuko was very aware that people were gawking at them rudely as they waltzed across the dance floor, especially when he joined in her laughter. It was just too hard for him to ignore that beautiful smile and her catching giggles.

He led her around the floor a bit longer; the song was nearing its end. As the pair performed the final steps of the dance, Katara said, "Come on, Zuko. You have to admit that this is the most fun you've had in _days_."

Zuko shrugged in admittance. "Yeah. Maybe it is." He flashed her a smile that she returned.

"What's the best part about tonight?"

The firebender paused to consider his answer. _Dancing with you, being able to hold you like this_, he wanted to say. Instead he said, "We're not fighting," and the blue-eyed girl's smile widened so much he was afraid she was going to strain the muscles in her face.

"You're such a dork, Zuko," she whispered in his ear. He let her slow down the last few steps of the dance and relax into his body completely, her arms draped around his neck and his around her small waist. "But that's okay. It's one of the best things about tonight for me, too."

"It's not the best?" he couldn't help but ask.

"No…"

"Then what is?"

The song had ended. Zuko was still holding Katara in his arms and rotating slowly with her as he awaited her answer with baited breath.

"…I'm dancing with _you_."

* * *

So I really liked writing this one. Couldn't tell you why. Maybe because it was such a simplistic idea. I was able to take the conversation whichever way I wanted because it was just Zuko and Katara. Granted, they were surrounded by people, but they were still by themselves. I dunno... hard to explain, I suppose.

Anywho.

Anything to say to me? Constructive criticism, kind words? Anything?


	4. Who You Want to be With

Collectibles

**Who You Want to Be With**

Song Number Seven: The More Boys I Meet by Carrie Underwood

Quote: _I close my eyes and I kiss that frog…_

Summary: Katara was sick of finding out from Zuko that the guys she liked were wrong for her.

* * *

One:

His name was Li. She met him in the Fire Nation market two weeks after the coronation ball as she was buying a bolt of fabric to make Toph a new dress (_But I don't __**need **__a new dress, Sugar Queen! _Toph had protested. _Why waste the money?_). Li's name didn't escape Zuko. He choked over his lunch as Katara cheerily revealed that she was going out dancing that night with a boy who had the same name he'd used in the Earth Kingdom (not that she knew that). As Sokka thumped on the firebender's back in a (terrible) attempt at helping his friend, Katara answered Suki's quick, eager questions about the boy.

What did he look like?

Was he a bender or not?

Was he tall?

Did Katara know how old he was?

What was Katara going to wear?

Down at the other end of the table, Aang sulked and pushed his vegetables around his plate. Zuko batted Sokka's hand away, having been freed from the momentary threat at his life.

"What do you mean you're going dancing with some boy you've just met?" the Fire Lord demanded loudly.

Mai looked at him, a jealous sneer flitting across her pale face as Ty Lee hid a giggle behind her hand and then continued to eat. Zuko didn't notice any of this as he stared at a startled Katara.

"You can't just go _dancing_ with some weird boy that you met at the market!" he explained, wondering why his voice kept getting louder and more high-pitched.

Sokka nodded along. "And furthermore-"

"You don't know anything about this guy!" Zuko exclaimed, cutting Sokka off. "For all you know he's some sort of whacko assassin!"

"Oh, _gosh_. I didn't realize you'd be so upset, _Dad_," Katara shot back sarcastically. "Tell me, do you want me to get him to pick me up here so you can meet him?"

Zuko spluttered, unable to find the words he wanted to say. Across from him, Toph was laughing so hard that she'd actually tipped her chair backwards and onto the floor. She was clutching her stomach as she rolled around in her chair, dirty feet kicking through the air.

"Jeez, Sparky! Way to be jealous!"

The table went silent. Mai sniffed haughtily and then scooted her chair away from the table, exiting the room swiftly and quietly. Ty Lee hurried after her looking worried. Zuko had turned a very violent red and Katara was well on her way to looking the same way. The embarrassment was so thick that, if she had been able to see, Toph was sure she would have seen some sort of dense cloud descending over their little group.

"I'm not jealous!" Zuko finally snapped, storming out of the room.

"Oh, no-o," Sokka said with a large grin. "He's not jealous _at all_."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"He's not right for you," Zuko told Katara when she'd gotten back to the palace that night. Or, rather, the next morning. He almost couldn't believe Katara had stayed out all night.

"Excuse me?" Katara said, looking affronted.

The young Fire Lord shifted in the chair that he'd situated himself in, glancing at her incredulously. "Come on, Katara. Do you really want to date a guy with a beard like that?"

"What's does his beard have to do with anything, Zuko?" Katara asked, sounding irritated. "He was very nice."

"He called you Water Tribe girl!"

"You call me peasant," she shot back, raising an amused eyebrow.

"Called," Zuko corrected her. "And leave me out of this."

"I can't. You've managed to get yourself involved all on your own."

Katara watched as he shrugged and stood up from the chair. "Fine. Just…think about it, Katara. Do you _really _like that guy?"

She opened her mouth to reply, but he'd already left.

* * *

Two:

The next boy Katara met was named Tian. Zuko was with her when the two crossed paths. It was a good month or so after the incident with Li and Zuko had been fortunate enough to be able to put the incident out of his mind. It seemed Katara had long forgotten the bearded teen as well, because the group had heard nothing more of him.

Zuko and Katara were out for the day. She thought it would be good for him to spend his time among his people and he felt like showing off the fact that he had a whole _country_ to the waterbender (what? He was a teenaged boy! He was desperate to impress Katara!). They were being trailed closely by his guards (Uncle Iroh would've had a cow-pig if he'd heard Zuko had been somewhere without guards), so people were gawking in an entirely unnecessary way.

As Katara paused to look at a little stand of jewelry, Zuko stepped up behind her so he could look at the pieces over her shoulder (and maybe to see if that flowery scent was coming from her hair or the vendor a few stands down, but that was beside the point).

"Which one's your favorite?" he asked, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.

Katara shrugged and smiled up at him. "I kind of like that bracelet." She was pointing to a silver bracelet that was embedded with rubies. It was slim and the rubies sat in a single row around the circumference. It was remarkably simple but undeniably pretty, exactly the kind of thing that he figured Katara would like.

"How much?" he asked the vendor.

Katara turned scarlet. "What?! No, Zuko, I couldn't possibly let you-"

"Fifteen gold coins," the vendor replied with a wide grin that revealed several missing teeth and some rotting gums. "Perhaps you would like to see its match?"

The waterbender shook her head stubbornly. "No! No thank you," she protested with an angelic smile. "We're fine! We don't need-"

"Sure," Zuko said.

"_Zuko!_"

But the salesman had already produced a square-shaped box that he opened to reveal a bracelet made of gold. Little sapphires were placed into it.

"I'll take both," Zuko told the man, digging his bag of money out of the pocket of his pants. The very-nearly-toothless man looked like he was about ready to scream from excitement.

"_No_, he won't," Katara said.

The man's grin faded.

"_Yes_, I _will_," Zuko shot back at her.

"A sale!" the man exclaimed before Katara could protest again. "My first in _weeks!_ And to my Lord, no less! I will give you a discount, your majesty."

"That's really not necessary," Zuko said, pressing the total of thirty gold coins into the seller's hand. The man promptly handed the bracelets over to the young firebender, pocketed the money, and waved enthusiastically as the pair walked away.

Katara shot Zuko a livid glare when he slipped the bangles over her hand.

"Aw, come on, Katara! You can't be mad!"

"I told you not to, Zuko! And what did you do? You bought them anyway!"

"Well, I would've only gotten the first one, but they're a pair. You can't have one without the other!"

"You know something? The more you hang around Sokka, the more you talk like him and do idiotic things like _this_!" She held the bracelet-covered wrist up in front of his eyes. "You know I'll never be able to repay you for these!"

"I don't expect you to."

"Excuse me," a boy around Zuko's age cut in. "But are you Master Waterbender Katara of the Southern Water Tribe?"

Katara looked taken aback. "I… Yes, I am." She was still holding her hand up in front of Zuko's eyes.

The youth smiled enthusiastically and shook her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you! I've long been an admirer of your prowess! My name's Tian."

"Er, thank you…Tian," Katara said. Her blue eyes revealed how flattered she was feeling. Zuko felt some sort of angry emotion surge through his veins and he was suddenly very tempted to feign a pain from the wound on his chest so she would return her attention to him.

"I'm a scholar at the university here in the capitol, and I would really like it if we could sit down sometime and discuss your life. From what I've heard, it's been absolutely fascinating!"

"I wouldn't say that it's been fascinating," Katara muttered humbly.

"Well, I'd like to learn about you nonetheless. I've heard so much about you. My professors would be impressed if I wrote a paper on you. Where can I contact you?"

"Honestly, I can't say. Wherever a messenger hawk can get to, I suppose."

After a few more exchanges between the two teens, Tian dashed off (_I'm so sorry to leave on such short notice, but I'm late for class_, he said as he excused himself) and left Zuko to fume while Katara fiddled with the bracelets around her wrist self-consciously.

"He's not for you either," Zuko told her before continuing down the crowded street. "Despite the fact that he's very eager to know you, his classes would come first. Still, he'd find a way to smother you with constant affection and clinginess until you got frustrated."

"What?!"

"You heard me."

* * *

Three:

There was really nothing wrong with the third guy that caught Katara's eye after the war. That didn't mean Zuko didn't find something wrong with him, though.

Katara was rather fond of Kaede. He was a nonbender and his mother was from the Northern Water Tribe while his father was from the Earth Kingdom. He had vibrant green eyes and short brown hair. He was kind of goofy and more of a lover than a fighter, but he was different from any of the boys the waterbender had ever known.

Kaede worked for Iroh at the Jasmine Dragon as a waiter and the pair met one day when Katara and Toph stopped in for a cup of tea (the gAang was taking a vacation and celebrating Zuko's sixth month as Fire Lord). She had ordered a cup of green tea and he had struck up a conversation with her.

Two days later, Suki was begging to meet him.

"I don't think we need to," Aang had interjected, looking hurt. "If we want to meet him, we could just go to the Jasmine Dragon."

"Yeah… I don't know if that's such a good idea, Suki," Katara said, shooting a cautious and meaningful glance at Zuko.

They met him anyway.

_Fate_, Katara thought ruefully to herself as she forced a smile and introduced Kaede to the group in the middle of the street, _must really want Zuko to meet and criticize every guy I show an interest in._

Sure enough, that night, as Aang was sulking quietly in the corner of the tea shop and the others were learning how to play Pai Sho from Uncle Iroh, Katara wandered out onto the balcony to stare pensively at the view and Zuko found her.

"So, what's wrong with this one?" she asked quietly with a hint of resignation in her voice.

"What?"

"Don't 'what' me, Zuko. I know that's why you're out here."

"Maybe you're wrong and I just want to talk to someone that _isn't_ Mai or Sokka or Toph."

She just looked at him, not bothering to dignify his sentence with a response. After a few moments of her staring, Zuko sighed and looked to the star-scattered horizon.

"Fine. Maybe I _am_ out here to tell you what's wrong with him," he muttered.

Katara arched an eyebrow. "Go ahead."

Zuko stayed silent for a few moments, turning around and leaning his back against the railing. He crossed his arms and watched their friends inside for a minute or two before answering her.

"Nothing."

"What?"

"There's nothing wrong with him."

"Really?" Katara was intrigued now. Zuko suddenly not finding something wrong with a guy she liked? There was something wrong with this picture.

"Well-"

"Here we go."

Picture back in focus.

"Nothing aside from the fact that he's just…not the person you really want to be with," the firebender said, looking at her solemnly before leaving her to ponder over his words.

* * *

**Fair Warning:**

I am changing my name from RupertLover09 to EmbracingRain. I'm sorry if that inconvienences any of you, but I figured I should just let you know. Especially to those of you who follow me so faithfully.

Also, I am officially discontinuing my Zutara story _Matters of the Heart_ seeing as how I only got one review for the most recent chapter. And it's been up for quite some time. I'd like to commend lazyguy90 for being that one person. If there are any of you who like the story and would like to see me continue it, then read it and review for it and maybe I'll think about it. I just don't see any point in putting in the effort when nobody reviews.


	5. Disagreement

Collectibles

**Disagreement**

Song Number One: Girlfriend by Avril Lavigne

Quote: _I see the way you look at me/And even when you look away I know you think of me…_

Summary: Katara and Mai really didn't like each other. Zuko wondered why.

* * *

There was a lot of angry tension crowding into Uncle Iroh's tea shop, Zuko noted as he stepped inside the afternoon of the eighth day of the group's vacation to the Earth Kingdom. Katara and Mai were the only ones there until he walked in, and when he did the tension only got worse. Ignoring it as best as he could, he asked them where his uncle and the others were.

"Your uncle decided to take them on a tour of the city," Katara explained as Mai shrugged in indifference. "They should be back around dusk."

"Did he leave you two to run the shop?"

"There haven't been many customers coming through," the waterbender said. "_I've _been handling it pretty well, though."

Zuko didn't miss the pointed glare the blue-eyed beauty cast at Mai. The Fire Nation girl sighed and rolled her dull, gold eyes.

"You can harp all you want, water witch. I'm _not_ going to help you."

"Zuko?" Katara said calmly. He almost missed the way her eye twitched. "Tell your girlfriend to stop being such a princess."

"She's not my-!"

"Zuko, tell the peasant to stop nagging me."

"Mai, don't call Katara a-"

"Tell her that if she can't help once in a while and pick up the slack, then she just needs to leave us all alone!"

"Tell her I'm not meant to pick up slack," Mai stated boredly.

"What? Afraid to get your hands dirty?"

"It's not my duty to step into the shoes of a commoner."

Zuko ducked as a vase in the corner of the shop exploded and a wave of boiling water flooded out, scorching the flowers that were inside of it. Shards of clay whistled through the air and pelted into the wooden tables. Katara let out a livid shriek and stormed from the room as this happened, slamming the side door behind herself as she went. It all happened in such quick succession that Zuko almost didn't notice the needle-like knife that soared behind Katara, nailing itself to the slamming door.

"Mai! You can't just throw knives at people when they've got their backs turned!"

"She exploded a vase and threw water at me," Mai deadpanned. "Turnabout's fair play."

"Trying to kill someone when they didn't try to kill you _isn't_ fair play, Mai. What's wrong with you?"

Mai crossed her arms and a disgruntled frown flickered over her face before she settled back into her usual look of boredom. "You shouldn't have to ask that question, should you?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

The raven-haired girl sighed, stood up, and made for the front doors. "Just forget it, Zuko…"

Zuko watched, exasperation painting itself over his face, as Mai swiftly exited the building, her long, black dress trailing after her. As soon as the door shut behind her, the side door opened up and Katara stuck her head in. She looked around for a moment (amusing Zuko) and then stepped inside to begin cleaning up the shattered vase. Zuko knelt to help her, carefully picking up the shards.

"What was that all about?" his friend's silence prodded him to ask.

"Your girlfriend and I don't get along," Katara replied, turning a faint shade of pink.

"She's _not_ my girlfriend, Katara."

The waterbender didn't reply. Instead, she seemed to be concentrating on one particular piece of the broken vase, turning it over and over in her tanned hands. Zuko watched it flip between her fingers, flashes of color and then dark clay glimmering dully in the light.

"Did she…say something to make you mad?"

"No, Zuko. It was just a disagreement," Katara said quietly, getting to her feet, bending the water into a ball, and carrying the pieces of the urn to the trash bin behind the hostess stand. The water sparkled and sprayed rainbows of light against the walls of the Jasmine Dragon.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Katara watched Zuko walk into the back room, her heart constricting painfully. She felt like such a hypocrite not telling him the truth about the "disagreement" with Mai. How could she sit there and tell him it was nothing and then demand that he always tell her the truth? It was _sick_. Like some sort of disease.

But how could you tell someone that you were fighting over him with another girl? It was completely weird. Especially since Katara had shown nothing but hate toward Zuko for a year or so. It still felt weird to acknowledge to herself that she liked Zuko (he was handsome and brooding and kind and caring…), she couldn't just tell _him_. Because that's what telling him that she'd been fighting with Mai over him was. It was admitting out loud and to his face that she _liked_ him.

The waterbender shuddered.

That was _out of the question_.

She couldn't help but think of the way he looked at her, though. He always looked at her recently. He was always smiling at her. It was somewhat unnerving.

The glimmer of polished jewelry around her delicate wrist caught the blue-eyed girl's eye, and she looked down at the bracelets. They clinked together quietly. She had worn them almost every day since Zuko had gotten them for her. Katara flushed at the memory. What had that been about anyway? And the thing with making her rethink every guy she liked lately.

Was he trying to tell her something?

Katara looked back at the drapery that shielded the back room from the restaurant area of the Jasmine Dragon, shaking her head to dispel the thought. That Zuko had any sort of feelings toward her (other than platonic ones, of course) was completely and utterly absurd.

* * *

Sooo...five down, ten to go.

We just found out that my brother's girlfriend is having a boy. They don't have a name for him as of yet. He's due the day after Thanksgiving but I don't get to see him until December 12. I'm working on spoiling him rotten. My mom and I shop for him constantly. I even bought him a stuffed lion at the zoo (yes, I'm almost 18, am starting college in a month, and am going to be an aunt and I still go to the zoo) and a cute little shirt from my college bookstore when I was there for orientation.

I know I updated fast this time, but I'm going to do that. I pre-wrote these before uploading them, so I figured I won't make you guys wait as long between updates anymore. That's just a cruel practice.

If any of you like _Sonny With a Chance_, I recently posted my first one-shot under that fandom and started my first chaptered story there, too. So if you happen to like _SWAC_, check them out and let me know what you think!

I still plan on discontinuing _Matters of the Heart_. I got a couple more reviews, and that means a lot, but if nobody is truly interested in it, then I'm not going to continue it. If you want me to, then leave a review for the story. We'll see if I start feeling better about it.


	6. The First Day

Collectibles

**The First Day**

Song Number Fourteen: First Day of the Rest of Our Lives by MXPX

Quote: _First day of the rest of our lives/I miss you already/Last time I see that look in your eyes/I miss you already…_

Summary: One day and he couldn't go without the waterbender? What in the name of Agni was his problem?

* * *

Zuko woke up to the sound of winter rain pelting the balcony outside of his room. The sky outside was a dark gray color, but he knew the sun must be rising behind the clouds. He sat up reluctantly and rolled out of bed to shut the double doors that had been standing open. As the doors gently clicked shut, the cool breeze that had been twisting its way into the room disappeared and the crimson curtains fell into stillness.

Pulling open his wardrobe door, Zuko plucked out the first shirt and pants he saw and dressed himself in them, not bothering with formal robes or a topknot. Instead, he combed the knots out of his hair and pushed his bangs out of his eyes as best as he could. Today felt like a lazy day for the young Fire Lord.

He exited his chambers and made the short walk to his study just down the hall and around the corner. Nobody else seemed to be around. Not the servants, not Mai, nor anybody else. Katara and the others had left just yesterday after they had all gotten back from their vacation. As far as the firebender knew, they were heading for the Southern Water Tribe, possibly making a stop at Kyoshi Island along the way.

As he walked to the study, Zuko passed by what had been Katara's room during the group's stay. Pausing and glancing around the empty hallway, Zuko turned the knob and opened the door. It seemed the maids hadn't gotten around to cleaning it yet. The blankets on the bed were folded back as though the waterbender had just gotten up and there was a lingering scent of some sort of flowery, ocean-y perfume that Zuko recognized as being hers. The curtains were pushed away from the windows, letting the dim light from outside flood into the room. It made the whole room seem rather dreary.

There was something sitting on the dressing table on the opposite side of the room. It was a vibrant sky blue. Curiosity awakened, Zuko meandered over to the table to see what the item was. Upon reaching for it, he realized it was a book of some sort and retracted his hand. What if it was some sort of diary or something?

It had to be Katara's. There was nobody else in the palace that would habitually carry around a blue book. This was the Fire Nation, after all. Things like blue books just weren't made. Kind of like winter parkas or gliders. They didn't belong among the red and black.

He placed his hand on the cover and felt that something was etched into the smooth leather. Zuko lit the lamp in the corner of the room and examined the book. The cover was etched and then embossed in silver. He studied the familiar pattern, trying to place where he'd seen it before. It looked like waves breaking over a full moon. The pattern felt familiar beneath his fingertips, like it had made contact with his skin in the past. Shrugging it off, he opened the book.

The front page confirmed the ownership of the book. There was an inscription clearly written by Sokka congratulating Katara on her fifteenth birthday. Intrigued, Zuko turned the page. The next one was blank. In fact, the entire book was blank, save for the very last page. Pasted to it was a picture that Zuko had never seen before. Nor had he known it had been painted. In one corner, Mai sat at a table across from Ty Lee in the Jasmine Dragon looking bored. In the opposite one, Aang stood with Momo perched on his shoulder. Sokka and Suki were crowded onto a couch in the center of the painting, wide smiles stretching across their faces. The firebender saw himself sitting against the wall, head tilted back and eyes closed, with his arm thrown around Katara's shoulders. They both appeared to be asleep, and her head was placed on his shoulder.

Zuko sighed and shut the book, emptiness creeping into the room. He felt more alone than he had in almost a year, and it wasn't the lack of the group running around his palace, it was the lack of Katara by his side. It was unusual and uncomfortable and he didn't like it. He almost snorted at that thought. This was only his first day without her. One day without a nagging waterbender and he already missed her? What in the name of _Agni_ was his problem?!

Shaking his head, Zuko left her room, taking the book with him. He would give it back to her when he made the trip to the South Pole in a few weeks' time for her birthday party ("And you _can't _tell her, jerkbender!" Sokka had exclaimed, shoving a very angry finger in Zuko's face. "It's a _surprise party_!").

_Surprise party_, Zuko scoffed. _Sokka will be lucky if Katara doesn't waterbend him into the ocean. She __**hates**__ surprises._

With the thought of Katara's looming party to console him, the firebender went about the rest of his day, her absence still niggling at the back of his mind.

* * *

I know it's short and it's not very full of Zutara goodness, but it's kinda one of my favorites! The rest of these really make me smile when I look at them. Some of them get pretty angsty, though. Just warning you. I'll post the next one soon.


	7. Sentiments

Collectibles

**Sentiments**

Song Number Five: Damn Regret by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

Quote: _Did you think you persuaded me to let you go?_

Summary: It was over, but no matter how hard Katara tried to convince herself otherwise, she missed Zuko.

* * *

Katara drifted through the banks of snow, pulling on her gloves and clutching her parka closer to her body. The sunlight glinted and glimmered off the mounds of snow, casting rainbow tinted prisms of light into the sky. White, fluffy specks floated down from the clear blue skies causing the waterbender to sigh. There was always snow here. An endless, monotonous amount of it. Once, she had reveled in the white substance, but now it was starting to irritate her.

She wrinkled her nose and crossed her eyes as a few flecks of snow landed on the tip of her nose.

_Ugh. We'll probably have another blizzard tonight,_ she thought bitterly to herself.

Katara summoned a handful of snow up into her glove-covered hand almost without thinking about it. She formed it into a neat, compact snowball as she stared gloomily out at the gently rolling waves of the ocean. Tossing the glittering, white ball of snow out to where the water met the horizon, Katara turned her back on her element with a rueful sigh.

Almost seven months ago, the war had ended and now the world was fighting for international peace. Things were so much better now that she wasn't fighting for her life. In a way, though, her life was so much fuller during the war. Especially during the months Zuko had spent helping the little group. Sure, they'd had a rocky start, but things between them had settled so nicely! She shouldn't be missing their friendship so much…

But as she moped through the permanent winter wonderland that was her home, Katara couldn't help but think of sandy beaches, warm, welcoming waves, humid nights, and a pair of emotive honey-gold eyes that really shouldn't have been haunting her dreams as much as they had been for the past couple of weeks.

As she plopped down on a grouping of ice-covered rocks, Katara heard approaching footsteps and smiled grimly.

"Hey, Suki."

There was a sound of exasperation before Suki asked, "How'd you know it was me?"

"Well… Sokka would've tripped by now, Toph can't see on ice, and Aang already would've been talking my ear off," Katara said, holding up a finger for each person. She let her pinky join the others, creating a quartet out of her fingers and saying, "You were the only one left."

Suki laughed and sat down on the rocks. The warrior looked rather out of place with her blue and green parka (designed by Sokka, sewn by Gran-Gran), but still pretty and lively nonetheless.

"What has you so down, Katara? I don't think I've ever seen you this depressed."

Katara groaned and pulled her knees to her chest. "Who sent you after me now?"

The Kyoshi warrior shrugged and smiled. "Me," she confessed. "I was kind of worried about you. You haven't eaten in almost twenty-four hours and you're avoiding everybody. Even Aang!"

Katara nibbled on her lower lip and contemplated the waves breaking slowly on the rocky, icy shore before speaking. Telling Suki couldn't hurt… Suki was nice and understanding… And, most importantly, she could keep a secret.

"Suki…if I tell you something…do you _promise_ you won't tell anybody?" she asked, looking at her friend.

"Of course!" the auburn haired girl exclaimed, looking slightly concerned.

"Especially Aang, Suki. You can't tell him. Period."

"Okay…"

Katara gritted her teeth and muttered, "I miss Zuko, okay?!" before burying her face in her knees. She waited a minute or two for the inevitable laughter, but none came so she chanced a glance at her friend. An amused smirk had twisted Suki's lips and humor was sparkling in her eyes.

"So?"

"What?" Katara said intelligently.

"So you miss a guy you like," Suki said, smiling and shrugging. "It's not a big deal. At least, not something you have to get all dramatic about!"

"_I do __**not**__ like __**Zuko**__!!!"_ Katara declared in a, perhaps, unnecessarily loud voice.

Suki raised a finely-shaped eyebrow. "Oh, really?"

"Yes," Katara said hotly.

"Alright. Then why are you so depressed about not being around him?"

The waterbender opened her mouth to reply, but Suki pressed on.

"And why didn't you want me to tell anybody? Seems to me you wouldn't be so sad and secretive about missing Zuko if you didn't like him."

"I like Zuko just fine," Katara said stiffly. "He's a very good friend."

Suki scoffed. "Don't try to pull the cow-sheep wool over my eyes, Katara. I'm not stupid, you know. Back in Ba Sing Se, the two of you were flirting so much that _Sokka_ noticed. And you know Zuko didn't just buy you those bracelets just for any silly reason."

Katara could feel her defenses crumbling to dust as her brother's girlfriend spoke. Every argument she could think of withered away like a fire lily without water. Suki was right, of course. How could she not be? Katara swallowed hard around the lump in her throat. She had a crush on Zuko!

"…and how every time you got interested in a new guy, he kind of-"

"I _can't_, Suki," Katara choked out, interrupting Suki's ramblings.

"I don't see why not."

"Well, I do," Katara said firmly. "So I'll just…not." She stood up, dusting the snow off the seat of her pants and walked away, ignoring Suki's next comment.

"Yeah, good luck with that one, Katara!"

* * *

Next chapter dives head first into angst with a hint of humor (from Zuko!) and lots of Zutara goodness. Give this chapter lots of love through reviews, and I'll get the next one up sooner than soon.


	8. Stay With Me

Collectibles

**Stay With Me**

Song Number Three: Out of the Blue by Aly and AJ

Quote: _Out of the blue, they said we couldn't be together…_

Summary: She was going to be married. He wanted her to stay.

* * *

The party was going surprisingly well. To everyone's shock Katara had taken the surprise party in stride and with a large, laughing grin. To Zuko's private dismay, she had not, in fact, promptly bent Sokka into the freezing cold waters of the ocean. Instead, she had graced her brother with a bear hug and thanked him.

The entire group was there, plus a few other people that Zuko didn't recognize. Chief Hakoda, who had gifted his daughter some sort of white dress that sent her bursting into tears, was conversing quietly with Pakku and Kanna, the birthday girl's grandparents. They had given her a new scroll to practice her waterbending.

Toph was currently latched onto Aang's arm and looking completely blind for the first time since Zuko had encountered her. They were an awkward little pair, and Toph kept yelling at Aang for allegedly trying to kill her by letting her walk into the ocean. Aang, flustered and blushing profusely, was loudly denying her claims to no avail and demanding to know why she didn't just "go find someone _else_ to bug." Zuko could almost feel the fight coming on. And it probably would have if Toph was able to bend. Luckily, that disaster was avoidable for the time being.

Over by the crackling fire, Suki, Sokka, and Ty Lee were chatting merrily, their voices adding to the din that was floating on the open air. The male warrior's gift to his sister had been some sort of weird coupon book that dissolved Katara's tears (really, who cried over a _dress_?) and sent her into a fit of giggles. A fit of very justified giggles seeing as how Sokka had handmade the book and completed it with drawings he did himself.

There was a crunch of boots meeting snow and then Katara plopped down next to him in the snow, a bright, cheerful smile on her pretty face.

"Having fun?"

"Of course," Zuko replied with a sarcastic grin. "Parties are just my cup of tea."

Katara laughed, the sound pealing like bells in the cold winter air. "Well, I'm sure you'll survive. Although, I'm not sure Aang will." The two friends looked over to where Toph had shoved a grimy finger under Aang's nose and was shaking it, her face bright red and her voice angry.

"Quit putting me by the ocean, Twinkle Toes!"

"We're nowhere _near_ the ocean, Toph!" Aang bellowed in response.

"Toph doesn't seem too happy," Zuko stated.

"Bingo, Captain Obvious."

"That's _Fire Lord_ Obvious."

Katara blinked up at him, amusement written clearly in her bright blue eyes. "Was that an attempt at a joke? From _you?_"

"Hey, I do happen to have a sense of humor."

"Where?" the waterbender asked, poking him playfully in the side. As she did so, Zuko attempted to hold in a very un-Zuko-ish giggle. It was a poor attempt and it caused Katara to erupt into raucous laughter.

"You're ticklish!" She poked him again.

"I am not! Now, quit poking me, peasant!"

Katara arched one finely-shaped eyebrow, a smirk playing about her full lips. "Wrong title, your lordship. I am _no_ peasant."

"Since when?" Zuko demanded, confusion etched across his face. She hadn't suddenly gotten married or something had she? Agni help him, but he hoped she hadn't.

She scoffed, tossing her hair over her shoulder. "Don't you keep up with current events, Zuko? You're the Fire Lord. I thought that was part of your job description." Sending him a teasing smile, the water tribe maiden winked.

"Who'd you marry?"

Katara rolled her eyes and replied, "Nobody, numbskull." Her tone was joking, but he didn't miss the way her smile faded for a second before reappearing with a vengeance.

"You've spent too much time around Toph."

"Hmm…"

Zuko pondered her sudden change in status, tapping a finger against his chin. If she was no longer a peasant, then what on earth was she? A snippet of news, hardly two weeks old, niggled at the back of his mind, but he couldn't quite remember the entirety of it. "Something happened here in your tribe…" he began. "Wasn't it united a couple of weeks ago?"

"Under whose rule?" The look she was sending him was sly and a bit (did he dare think it?) flirtatious.

The amber-eyed teen looked over at his companion's older brother. Said boy was laughing hysterically, tears running down his tanned cheeks. "Oh, don't tell me they let your buffoon of a brother take charge of this place!"

"Spirits, Zuko! Don't be stupid! He's not even old enough yet. He hasn't even had the proper training."

Zuko breathed a quiet sigh of relief. The world was still free of Sokka's bumbling leadership skills. He didn't have to worry about trying to rescue a rebuilding nation when his own was in shambles (yet). "Am I close, at least?" he asked.

"Very."

He looked at her. "It's not you, is it?"

"You say it like it's a bad thing," she said.

"_You?!"_

Katara snorted in a very unladylike manner. "Yeah, right, Zuko. They wouldn't let me be chief of the tribe."

"Why not?"

"Don't you know your cultures at all? In the water tribes, women are looked down upon and oppressed. Even if we _are_ princesses." The last sentence was bitter and muttered, but Zuko didn't miss it.

"You're a princess," he repeated, wonder creeping into his mind. Katara was a princess. An honest to Agni _princess_. He remembered now. The once scattered Southern Water Tribe had been reunited under the rule of Chief Hakoda two weeks prior to the party, perhaps a bit longer.

Katara shrugged, looking away from him. "It's no big deal, really. It's just a title. Dad and Sokka do everything. I'm just here to…" she trailed off. "I'm an accessory, basically. Something that can be gotten rid of at a moment's notice. Chief Arnook has been trying to convince Dad to marry me off."

"I thought the southern tribe was the complete opposite of the northern one," Zuko said softly, studying his best friend's forlorn form. She shook her head.

"Not so much anymore. Some of the men from Chief Arnook's tribe immigrated here after the war and now Dad is trying to keep everybody happy. Too much change and the northern men will revolt. He tries to give me as much freedom as he can, but… Like I said, I'm an accessory now. All women of the tribe are. Except for Gran-gran. She had too much influence over my people while Dad was fighting in the war. They all respect her and Pakku. I'm just a princess who uses her bending abilities to fight. To most of the northern men, that's just as bad as a girl entering a marriage contract without her virginity intact."

Zuko frowned. "They judge you because you used your bending to help defeat Ozai?"

Katara smiled at him grimly. "It's no big deal, Zuko."

"Like hell it isn't!" he exclaimed. "Why isn't your father doing anything about this?"

"I'd think you would understand his position, Zuko, being the leader of a nation yourself. The happiness of one person doesn't matter as much as the happiness of the masses, right? I'm that one person, and I'm a big girl. I can deal with it."

"You shouldn't have to _deal_ with anything, Katara!" Zuko said loudly. "And everybody's happiness should be important!"

"He's doing what he can, Zuko," Katara said quietly. "He doesn't want to see me married off right now, but if it's what he has to do to keep the peace, then I won't say no."

"Who are they considering?"

Katara shrugged. "Probably one of Arnook's nephews. It'll be a political marriage, if Arnook has his say, that's all I know."

"That's not fair."

"Life's not fair," she replied indifferently.

"You won't be happy."

"There are people in this world who are more unhappy than I'll ever be."

"Damn it, Katara!" Zuko thundered, rising to his feet, thankful that everybody else was loud enough to drown out his voice and Hakoda wouldn't hear him cursing at Katara. "What happened to you? The Katara I knew would _never _be accepting of this!" His hands curled into shaking fists and he resisted the urge to storm up to his beautiful friend's father and tell him a thing or two about Katara's happiness.

"Yue did it and so can I!" Katara retorted, looking up at him with sparkling blue eyes. He realized that she was holding back a torrent of tears and his heart softened. "She loved Sokka, but she knew her duty to her people! It doesn't matter that I think I love y-" she cut herself short and looked away, eyes studying the snow and ice that made up the ground of her home. "It doesn't matter who I love," she started again, her voice hardly more than a whisper. "I'll be married to whomever my father and Chief Arnook agree on. As long as my people are happy, I'll survive with their choice."

Unaware of his actions, Zuko fell to his knees in front of her, gathering her shaking hands up in his own. "Katara…" She looked up at him, tears splashing onto her cheeks and clinging to her long eyelashes. "Katara, I…you won't… Don't do it," he finished lamely, pressing a hand to her cheek. "Stay with me."

"W-what?" she stuttered around her tears, looking thoroughly taken aback.

"Stay with me for a while. Until it all blows over, stay with me," he proposed. "When it's over, you can come back here and you'll be happy again."

"Don't be naïve, Zuko. It won't blow over."

"Yes it will," he insisted childishly. In the span of a mere few minutes, his entire world had imploded. It was a complete cliché, but everything he thought he had known about his world had fallen down around his ears. That Katara should marry someone she didn't know set his blood to boiling. That Hakoda would force his daughter into a political marriage went against everything Zuko thought the chief believed. That Katara would have to marry someone that wasn't Zuko himself… The young Fire Lord grit his teeth and bit back a feral growl.

"I don't think it will, Zuko," Katara murmured, mimicking his actions and placing her own hand atop his cheek, the one his father had destroyed in a fit of rage so many years ago.

"Then stay with me, 'Tara. At least until they take you away."

"They won't let me, Zuko. It's not proper."

"I don't care," he stated, "and neither should you. I'll make them let you."

_You can't do it,_ he wanted to say. _You can't marry some stranger just to make your people happy. Marry me. We'll call it political. At least then you won't be completely unhappy._

And then she was in his arms, holding onto him with all her might and he was holding her just as fiercely. He could feel the waterbender's tears seeping down his neck and freezing his heart in its shattered state.

"You mean the world to me, Zuko," she whispered into his neck. "Always."

A few yards away, Sokka watched on, wishing his baby sister still had the choices he did.

* * *

Angsty, no? I trust you guys have some choice words to use on me now. -hides- Don't hate me forever!


	9. The Simplest of Situations

Collectibles

**The Simplest of Situations**

Song Number Eight: Love Story by Taylor Swift

Quote: _'Cause you were Romeo/You were throwin' pebbles/And my daddy said, "Stay away from Juliet…"_

Summary: A father-to-daughter's-best-friend chat goes wildly awry for the unsuspecting Fire Lord.

* * *

Zuko stared solemnly at Katara's father. They were seated on opposing sides of the water chief's desk and there was a rather uncomfortable tinge to the chilly southern air. His breath puffed out in front of his pale face, hanging in a misty cloud for a few brief seconds before dissipating.

"You think Katara is unhappy?" Hakoda said calmly, a hint of incredulity leaking into his deep voice.

Zuko nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Did she tell you she was?"

"Not in those exact words, no," Zuko amended. "But I know your daughter, Chief Hakoda. I can tell when she's upset. I was the cause of most of her unhappiness in the past, so I know when something is wrong."

"Are you suggesting I don't know my own daughter?" the chief demanded, a scowl crossing over his tanned face.

"N-no, sir!" the firebender stammered out, turning more pale than his usual pallor. "I'm just saying that the only reason she's letting you marry her off is because she thinks it'll keep your people happy despite the fact that she's uncomfortable with it!"

"Who told you about the arrangement?"

"Katara," Zuko spat, his temper starting to rise. This conversation had started out as a father-to-daughter's-best-friend chat and had suddenly evolved into an angry dispute between rulers. "Although I'm sure I would have heard of it had she told me or not."

"You have no proof of her unhappiness!" the blue-eyed man thundered, lightning blazing in his eyes as he pounded a fist on the wooden desk.

"You mean despite the fact that _she told me she was_?" Zuko declared, sarcasm dripping from his voice like the deadliest venom. "Riddle me this, sir: What kind of girl _cries_ when she receives a _wedding dress_ for her birthday?" At the chief's stunned silence, he tacked on helpfully but resentfully, "Sokka told me why she was crying."

The widowed man and war veteran suddenly looked more world-weary and broken than Zuko had ever seen anyone look in his life. He rose from his wooden chair and paced slowly over to the window. For a few moments, the only sound in the room was that of Zuko's angry, labored breathing evening off as he calmed down; then Hakoda said quietly, "This is none of your business."

Zuko lurched from own chair in a sudden movement, causing it to topple over. Flames threatened to leap from his hands, but he held them back with an astonishing amount of self-control he didn't know he possessed. "Like hell it _isn't!_" he growled. "Katara is my _best friend!_ I like to think that I have some say in her happiness!"

"What do you expect me to do?" Hakoda intoned quietly. "My hands are tied. I'm no happier than either of you are. Do you honestly think I want to marry my baby girl to some stranger just to keep peace between the nations, Zuko? This is what the aftermath of war is like: we all have to sacrifice something to keep everyone else happy…or at least pacified for the time being."

"Don't let her walk into this marriage completely miserable," Zuko insisted. "At least let her be happy for a couple more months."

"What did you have in mind?"

Despite the fact that the waterbender's father sounded completely resigned and not at all interested, Zuko ploughed on. "Let her stay with me for a little bit. Let her get away from everything. I'm the only one out of the group who has the means to get her out of here. Suki is staying here with Sokka, Toph won't go near her parents with a fifty-foot pole, and Aang is too busy helping to keep the peace. Let her come stay in the Fire Nation for a while."

Hakoda chuckled wryly and turned back to the young bender. "Impossible," he said simply, as if it settled the matter.

"It's not and you know it," Zuko retorted, clenching his hands into fists to hold back his anger.

"You don't understand, Fire Lord Zuko," the title was said with a tone full of condescension that Zuko far from appreciated. "I work in tandem with Chief Arnook. All my decisions must be approved by him and vice versa. He won't agree to the princess of the Southern Water Tribe suddenly taking off to spend time with a male friend. It's not appropriate." He shrugged his broad shoulders and repeated, "Impossible."

"No, it's not," Zuko insisted.

Hakoda sighed and studied the golden-eyed teen who opposed him across the desk for a few gut-wrenching moments before his shoulders relaxed and he seemed to cave. "Fine. I'll let her stay with you for two months, but-"

"Thank-"

Hakoda held up a calloused hand, effectively halting Zuko's words. "I have a condition."

"Name it!" Zuko said eagerly.

_I'm going to help Katara, Katara's going to be happy for a little bit, she's going to be okay, I'm going to help Katara, I'm going to-_

"I consider this your formal offer for her hand in marriage."

Zuko's mouth dropped open, but before he could utter so much as one word of his confused, jumbled thoughts, he was ushered out the door and into the cold sunset of Katara's homeland. She was waiting for him outside the icy building, hope glimmering in her eyes and a smile ghosting across her pretty face. She blinked up at him, her smile faltering as he stared at her, at a complete loss for words. Coherent ones, anyway. Katara's smile crumbled as the moments passed into silence.

"He said no."

Zuko shook his head stupidly, still gawking at her awkwardly.

"He said yes!" Katara made to throw her arms around him, but Zuko placed a gloved hand on her shoulder, holding her back a bit.

"Your father…" he started. "He…I don't…He said…I can't…"

"What?" the waterbender queried, tilting her head in curiosity.

"I think we're getting married," he breathed out, hardly daring to believe his own words. Katara's mouth fell open and her eyes went wide.

"What?" she whispered.

"I don't know!" Zuko very nearly shrieked. "Ask your dad! I'm just as confused as you are!"

"What did he say to you?!"

"He said he'd let you stay with me, but he was considering it my 'formal offer for your hand in marriage…' or something along those lines!" Zuko exclaimed. "And then, he didn't let me say anything else, he kind of just pushed me out of the building before I could get a word in edgewise!"

Katara groaned and shook her head. "Oh, for the love of Tui and La, Zuko! You _had_ to go and make a mess of the simplest of situations, didn't you?"

But in the back of her mind, she was thinking: _Being married to Zuko?…Actually, that doesn't sound half bad…_

_

* * *

_Hehe, I like this one. (: Let me know what you thought!


	10. Eternity

Collectibles

**Eternity**

Song Number Twelve: Dark Blue by Jack's Mannequin

Quote: _Dark blue, dark blue/Have you ever been alone in a crowded room/When I'm here with you?_

Summary: Zuko hadn't felt so alone in a long time. And then Katara came back and suddenly the palace wasn't so empty.

* * *

He wasn't much one for happiness and sentiment, but even Zuko had to admit that he'd been feeling slightly less stressed now that Katara was back in the palace. Maybe he should have been more tense and angry with his advisors breathing down his neck and yelling at him about his deal with Hakoda, but he simply wasn't.

So far, Zuko had been diplomatic about the entire situation. As diplomatic as he could be with Chief Advisor Naoki spouting every possible slur against Katara that he could come up with, anyway. There had been a good many showdowns in the throne room between the Fire Lord and the advisor, the seriousness of them getting progressively worse over time. The next time one popped up, Zuko swore to himself that he would be seeking the advisor's dismissal.

Tonight, however, was a formal dinner with Master Piandao to discuss the current state of the town of Shu Jing. A number of noble families were supposed to attend - including Mai's.

The knife-thrower was currently sitting across the room from him. Her three-year-old brother was sitting on her knee and she was seated between her parents on a red velvet couch in the palace's winter sitting room. Why there had to a sitting room for each season, Zuko didn't know and didn't dare to ask for fear of sounding stupid.

Mai was glowering darkly at Katara who was sitting in a wing backed chair by the fireplace. Her fingers were pleating the fabric of her navy blue dress, an action Zuko had noticed was a nervous habit the waterbender had.

Outside, rain was lashing against the windows and thunder was roaring behind the walls of iron gray clouds. Mai's father, however, was chattering on relentlessly about his finances and his hopes for a raise in salary. To Zuko, the nobleman's words were a secondary concern. He was more concerned with Katara. He could feel her presence across the short distance that was provided to them by the small, round, mahogany end table between their chairs. Their fingers brushed as they reached for their teacups. Katara blushed, smiled shyly at Zuko, and then pulled her hand away. The moment went unnoticed by the nobleman and his son, but it was caught by both Mai and her mother, neither of whom looked particularly happy.

During a lull in Mai's father's relatively one-sided conversation, Zuko rose from his chair. "I'm sorry to interrupt, Nobleman, but I do believe that dinner is about to be served. Perhaps we should join the others."

"Of course, my lord."

The family of four exited the room, Mai carrying Tom-Tom on her hip, eyes shooting daggers at the benders.

Zuko turned to Katara who was sniggering quietly behind her hand. Her smile was hidden behind her hand, but her blue eyes were alight with mirth. As soon as Mai and her family were well out of earshot, Katara's sniggers turned into full-fledged giggles that bounced around the room in golden notes.

"What's so funny?" Zuko asked.

Katara grinned. "I'm so sorry," she said, "but…you're really funny when you get all imposing and…Fire Lord-y on people." With that said, she swept out of the room, an occasional giggle floating back to the firebender's ears.

Zuko smiled, shaking his head, and followed her out of the sitting room.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Dinner was a boring, relatively uneventful situation. Zuko heard about the current situation of Shu Jing from Piandao and responded with the appropriate answers when necessary. He listened to the conversations going on around him and joined in when he felt he should. All the while he was conscious of Katara and her every movement. Every flick of her wrist, every smile that flickered across her lips, Zuko noticed. With her sitting to his right, her leg pressed against his, the crowded table didn't seem so empty and he didn't feel quite as alone as he would have had she not been there.

It was weird, he mused, how one person alone could overtake your senses without their knowing. It was weird that Katara should be the one to render him completely oblivious to anyone but her.

"Sokka's doing great," she was telling Piandao. "He's learning the ropes of leading our tribe so he can take over when Dad thinks he's ready." She lifted a goblet of wine to her lips.

"Is he still practicing his swordsmanship?" Piandao queried.

"Naturally," Katara replied. "He still goes off on random streaks of waving it around like an idiot, but other than that, he's still doing very well, in my opinion. Not that I know much," she amended. "I'm not exactly the type to wield a weapon."

Piandao smiled genially. "Well, from what I hear, the Fire Lord is quite the master at fighting with broadswords," he said, turning to Zuko. "Perhaps he'd be willing to teach you."

Zuko chuckled. "Katara allowing me to teach her how to fight with a sword of any type would first require her to trust me not to decapitate her."

Katara stuck her tongue out at Zuko as a response, eliciting a loud bout of laughter from Piandao. "You had better watch what you say, Fire Lord Zuko, from what I hear this young lady has quite the temper," the White Lotus master said, gesturing to a smirking Katara with a chopstick. "Perhaps it is best if we keep her from swords to preserve your life!"

"I wouldn't need swords, Master Piandao," Katara stated flippantly. "I'm a much better bender than Zuko is. I always have been and I always will be."

"Says who?" Zuko demanded.

"Me." The statement was punctuated with a wink and a flirtatious smile that made Zuko's head reel.

Piandao was laughing near hysterically now, attracting the attention of the others at the table. Mai looked particularly displeased by the scene, a scowl inching across her thin lips. Katara pulled the sword master's golden goblet out of his reach, a diplomatic smile crossing her face.

"I believe the master has had too much wine," she told the table in a conspiratorial whisper.

Piandao scoffed. "Too much wine my ass!" Mai's mother looked offended. "Give me back my wine, Katara. I'd like to make a toast!"

Looking as though she thoroughly would regret the decision in a few moments' time, Katara handed Piandao his goblet back, wincing in preparation for the onslaught of words to come. Zuko wondered briefly why she looked so frightened, and then:

"To Zuko and Katara!" the swordsman bellowed, rising shakily from his cushion on the floor. "And to their upcoming nuptials!" He swayed dangerously on his feet, and Katara and Zuko both stood up, hurrying to anchor the man to his spot, both of them very red in the face and refusing to make eye contact. "I am sure they'll have a splendid life together!" Piandao raised his goblet into the air. "Zuko and Katara!" He drank deeply from the golden vessel, not noticing the horrible silence that filled the room as everyone stared at the two friends supporting their old ally.

Somebody coughed.

Mai looked positively livid.

And then…

Piandao groaned, grasping at his stomach and turning green.

Zuko and Katara had no time to react before regurgitated food and wine spewed across their feet and the hem of Katara's dress.

"I don't feel well," Piandao whispered loudly.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"Well, that went…_splendid_," Zuko spat as he sat down on a bench in the courtyard. Sarcasm was painfully evident in his deep voice, and yet he found himself looking at a smiling waterbender.

"Oh, come on, Zuko," she said, sitting down at his feet and resting her head on his knees, dirtied clothes long since exchanged for clean ones. "It wasn't that bad."

Zuko stared down at her head, wondering when they had come to be so comfortable and friendly with each other that she felt she could just lean all over him and that he would let her do so without so much as a second guess. _Probably when I got us into this mess,_ he thought.

"I thought it was kind of funny," the water princess continued.

"Master Piandao _threw up on us_ after he falsely announced to the _entire table_ that we're _getting married_."

"He didn't even seem that drunk," Katara said thoughtfully. "He was totally and completely lucid up until that point."

"Apparently he's not as good as holding his liquor as he seems," Zuko replied, bitterness hanging on to his every word. "Those were my best boots!"

"They'll come clean," Katara said, waving a hand through the cold winter air. The rain had long since ceased, but the wind was still flitting around them, icy cold and biting at their uncovered skin.

"Says you," Zuko muttered.

The two friends were silent for a few moments. Zuko watched the top of his waterbender's head intently, as though staring at her incessantly would help him to divine her thoughts. _**My**__ waterbender,_ he thought possessively, running a hand through her brown hair absentmindedly.

"…have to do this, you know."

Zuko snapped back to reality. "What?"

Katara twisted around to look up at him, her face caught in the glow of the moonbeams. "We might actually have to do this," she repeated.

"Do what?"

She arched an eyebrow. "Get married."

"O-oh." Zuko swallowed around a lump that had suddenly formed in his throat. "Yeah, I know."

"And you're…okay with that?" Katara bit her lip and he could tell her eyes were studying his face. "You wouldn't rather marry Mai…or somebody?"

Zuko smirked. "Would you rather marry Aang?" he retorted.

Katara made a face and looked away. That look said everything to the once-traitorous firebender.

"Thought not." He placed a gentle hand on her cheek, feeling the softness of the flushed skin under his fingertips. She looked up at him, a light smile playing about her lips. "Of course I'm okay with it," Zuko said quietly. "Who better to spend eternity with than your best friend?"

"Eternity," Katara said softly, leaning in to his touch.

It wasn't a question.

* * *

Ehhhh... I wasn't so crazy about this one. Plus, Piandao being schnockered wasn't as funny as I was hoping it would be. I didn't write him drunk as well as I wanted to. I dunno... I liked writing it, but the end result just...wasn't what I was imagining...


	11. To Fall In Love

Collectibles

**To Fall in Love**

Song Number Thirteen: I Will Possess Your Heart by Death Cab For Cutie

Quote: _You've gotta spend some time with me/And I know that you'll find, love/I will possess your heart…_

Summary: He should've come with a warning label that read: Warning! I will possess your heart. He really should have.

* * *

Katara smiled to herself as she watched Zuko. The young Fire Lord had brought her along on today's excursion: a trip to the capitol's orphanage. It was a bright building on the edge of the city. The outside was made of red bricks and a little gravel pathway leading up to the front doors was lined with trees that were a beautiful, leafy green, even though it was the middle of winter. Fire lilies were planted in window boxes along the first floor windows.

"_I try to come here two or three times a month,"_ Zuko had told her that morning as they walked the few miles to the orphanage. _"There are some kids who really grab your attention. I set aside a special fund for this place so the owners could expand their property a bit and provide the kids with better clothing and food."_ That sentence would have come off as arrogance from anyone else, but Zuko had been all smiles and eagerness when he confided in her.

Katara had almost questioned the lack of transportation and their casual clothing, but chalked it up to Zuko not wanting to make the children feel inferior. He was, she knew, a relatively normal person underneath all the formal robes and the flame-shaped crown. _He's a good person,_ she amended, smiling to herself at the thought that she would have throttled anyone who had tried to tell her different two years ago.

Watching him settle the orphaned children onto a circular rug for story time, Katara felt her heart swell with pride. It was something she hadn't felt since Aang had defeated Ozai and saved the world, but it was somehow different this time. The smile on her lips and the warmth flooding her veins felt deeper than the motherly pride she felt when Aang accomplished something great and came running to tell her like a child with a painting they had completed for its mother.

Katara had a feeling she knew _why_ she was so proud of Zuko, and it had nothing to do with her nurturing tendencies.

Zuko had proved time and time again that he was nearly a grown man with no need of her help, approval, and acceptance. Instead, he sought her help on an equal level, treating her opinions as though they were as good as his uncle's or any of his advisors'; he didn't seek out her approval anymore, but let it come naturally as the tides; and her acceptance of his decisions was almost always there, whether he wanted it or not. They worked together as a team, a force to be reckoned with. She sat in on meetings with him and helped him fill out his paperwork. With Zuko, the waterbending princess felt like an equal, like a vital organ to his existence.

"Huyana, why don't you pick out a scroll for story time?" Zuko asked a little girl clothed in a worn dress. She nodded and scurried over to a rack of scrolls, her black ponytail swishing across her back.

Katara turned to the elderly woman beside her. "That's a Water Tribe name," she said quietly.

The woman nodded. "Huyana's mother was from our nation, but her father was a warrior of the Southern Water Tribe."

"I would have never guessed if I hadn't heard her name," Katara confessed.

The woman smiled and said, "If you look closely, you will notice her eyes are blue and her skin is a shade or two darker than the others. Fire Lord Zuko seems to have taken a particular shine to her."

"Are all of these children orphans?" Katara watched as Huyana presented Zuko with a tattered scroll, a shy smile on her face. Zuko smiled back and allowed the girl to sit on his knee as he prepared to read the story to the children.

"Most of them, yes. Their parents either died fighting in the war or in some way closely related to it. Yoki's parents passed away when the plague passed through the city. Mao's mother was murdered not long before his father was deployed. Each child has their own tragic story, but has come so far from the day they came to us. We try to keep them as happy as possible. The Fire Lord has helped a great deal. We are forever grateful for his generosity."

Katara smiled kindly, placing her hand on the woman's shoulder. "You're doing a wonderful job."

"Katara."

The waterbender looked around at the sound of her name falling so casually from Zuko's lips.

"Yeah?"

"Come read with us," Zuko said, patting the spot next to him.

Katara couldn't help but let her smile develop into a grin as she joined him on the secondhand couch. He should've come with a warning label that read, "Warning! I will possess your heart." He really should've. Because that's what he was doing.

Slowly, ever so slowly, the lord of fire was taking over each of her senses and developing a frighteningly larger, more permanent niche in her heart and she had the feeling that once Zuko took over the biggest part of her heart, he would be there for good and she would be in love.

* * *

Okay, you guys. We're in the homestretch now. There's only for Collectibles left. I hope you've been enjoying them so far! Let me know what you think in a review!


	12. Everything Was Poetry

Collectibles

**Everything Was Poetry**

Song Number Ten: That's What You Get by Paramore

Quote: _That's what you get when you let your heart win…_

Summary: Well, Katara thought, I guess that's what I get… Stupid Zuko.

* * *

The realization came to her in the dead of night halfway through her stay in the Fire Palace.

Winter was slowly giving way to spring. The cherry tree outside her room was blossoming, the pink blooms falling onto the small stone deck. Katara liked to fall asleep listening to the sound of the wind rustling through the branches, flowers, and leaves, so she tended to leave the double doors leading to the deck open at night when rain wasn't pouring down on the world.

This happened to be one of those nights.

For the most part, the entire palace was silent. The only time there was sound was when guards came to relieve those who were watching over the entrances to the Fire Lord's room and Katara's. Other than that, the building was completely silent.

Outside, wind whispered through the trees, danced intimately with streams and ponds, and whisked through every nook and cranny that the grand palace provided. A little family of turtleducks slept peacefully with their heads tucked under downy wings, and glowflies skimmed across the dewy grass.

It was when a cat-owl perched in the cherry tree outside her room gave a loud screech that Katara sat up in bed, her hand fluttering to her heart and her eyes wide. Apparently satisfied with this result, the cat-owl swooped away from the tree and into the still night air.

Katara sighed and ran a hand through her tangled hair, officially awake, and pulled from her dreams of molten gold eyes and messy raven-colored hair. She kicked aside the blankets and rolled out of her luxurious bed, walking tiredly out to the deck to admire the view she was provided of the night sky.

Gran-gran had warned her of this moment many times in the recent past. She had said it was a turning point, a permanent change, something that could never again be ignored once it was acknowledged. Gran-gran had chalked most of it up to rumors, saying that even though most people said that when a bender fell in love with their elemental opposite, it was a permanent change in emotion, she didn't really believe it.

"_Falling in love, however, is not something to be trifled with. You may believe yourself in love with one person but soon come to find that that is not how you feel at all, my dear. When you are truly in love, it may take time but you will know…"_

Katara had thought that maybe Gran-gran was just babbling on and didn't really realize what she was saying. Now that she was in her later years, Kanna had a tendency to talk to herself. Katara had caught her at it on several occasions.

Now, though… Now, Katara was starting to think that her grandmother had had a point. Katara had once thought that falling in love would be something that would just sort of happen. And she would know right away. Like how Aang seemed to know from the beginning that he was in love with her. While she never reciprocated his feelings, it had been nice to feel wanted like that, and over time she had deluded herself into thinking that she could have felt the same way. But this…this was so much different than some sort of twisted delusion.

She could feel it everywhere. Under her skin, flowing peacefully with the blood in her veins, caressing her skin, deep down in her bones. Her heart felt swollen and it swooped down into her stomach whenever he was near her. Everything was poetry and happiness. When he was happy, she was happy. When he was frustrated, so was she. She trusted him. She wanted him around. Whenever they touched, she felt as though each and every one of her nerves had been lit on fire. Her hand fit perfectly into his and on the rare occasions that he hugged her, it was as though she fit perfectly in his arms.

It was the poetry of a spring day or the way the sun kissed her cheeks.

It was love.

_Well,_ Katara thought, _I guess that's what I get… Stupid Zuko._ She smiled up at the moon for a few moments, imagining Yue's soft smile as she shared in Katara's private happiness.

How she had fallen for the headstrong firebender, she would never really know, even if she could count all the reasons why she did love him. She was in love with Zuko and things were starting to look up. Maybe there was a happy ending after all…

* * *

So this one was kinda short and that really irked me. I wanted it to be longer, but it refused to let me write any more. Let me know what you thought!


	13. I Love You

Collectibles

**I Love You**

Song Number Six: Language Lessons (Five Words or Less) by Hawthorne Heights

Quote: _So whisper softly and don't forget/To tell me how you feel in five words or less…_

Summary: Zuko opened his mouth. He froze. Katara scoffed. She walked away.

* * *

The first time he tried to tell her was a disaster.

There was a week left in her stay in the Fire Palace before she had to go back to the Southern Water Tribe and marry whomever it was that her father and Chief Arnook decided on. At first, Zuko thought maybe he shouldn't tell her. Why tell her when there was a chance she didn't feel the same way? And if she did happen to feel the same way, why tell her and make them both live with the knowledge that they could never be together?

Although those questions and many more like them ripped through his mind on a near-constant basis, Zuko's ultimate decision was to tell her.

"_After all, Nephew,"_ Uncle had once told him, _"it is better to have loved and lost then to have never loved at all."_

Sure, Uncle was filled with cheesy proverbs like that, but maybe he actually had a point.

This brought him to his first attempt. As was said before, this attempt was a disaster.

They were standing in the throne room after one of his daily meetings with his advisors. She was wearing some of her nicer water tribe clothes, and her hair was caught up in a complicated twist. Zuko knew enough about Katara by now that he could tell this was her trying to fit in with the nobles but stay true to her heritage. Her robes were made of the finest silk and were dyed a deep blue, but her hairstyle was part of a new fashion zipping its way through the Fire Nation.

Katara was admiring the view out one of the many windows that lined the walls of the room, a soft smile playing about her lips. The midday sun was streaming through the glass, casting her profile into shadows that made her look more like a silhouette from afar.

"I never thought I'd love living somewhere as much as the South Pole," she said quietly when Zuko placed a hand on her shoulder. "There used to be a day when I thought this place was hideous. I never really relished the thought of living near volcanoes, but now I can see all the hidden beauty."

Zuko squinted, attempting to see what Katara saw, but the landscape held no beauty for him. He looked a little bit harder, longing to identify with her, and then he saw his home nation through her eyes. The ragged hills and valleys of the volcanic nation, the way the fire lilies seemed to be sprayed through the sparse, green fields…the view from his palace was a rather stunning one indeed.

"Katara, can I talk to you?" he asked her softly.

She turned to him, a trace of suspicion in her baby blue eyes, but she nodded. "Sure, Zuko."

He took her hand and studied it, suddenly finding that his throat had seemingly closed up against any and all words that were threatening to break free of his mouth. He could see the entire scene playing out in his mind.

He would open his mouth. He would freeze. She would scoff. She would walk away from him without a second glance.

A low-pitched keening sound managed to worm free of Zuko's constricting throat. He was starting to get nervous. His palms were starting to get sweaty so he dropped Katara's hand, wiping his own on his robes. He kind of wished that she would quit looking at him so intently, like she knew he was about to spill his guts but couldn't get the words out. It was really unnerving!

He blinked and swallowed around the lump in his throat, his resolve returning.

Zuko opened his mouth. Much to his disappointment, he instantly froze, the words he was going to say dying on his lips.

"Zuko, what's going on?"

Katara's hand curling softly around his bicep shook him abruptly back to earth. Zuko stared at her with wide eyes. She was smiling up at him, a hint of knowledge in her eyes. But no matter how much he wanted to say it…he couldn't.

"We're having roast duck for dinner!" the firebender blurted out, his voice cracking.

Katara's face fell a fraction of an inch. "Oh really?" she said, her voice flat.

"Yeah, why?"

Katara scoffed. She walked away.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

The second time he tried to tell her, she wasn't even conscious.

He didn't realize that when he was telling her, of course. It was a typical Zuko-esque blunder. Only _he_ would tell a girl he loved her and not realize she was asleep.

It was a romantic situation, he supposed. Spring had brought hotter days and warm nights. Somebody could sit outside well until midnight without having to worry about catching a chill as long as they brought a light cloak or a blanket along.

They were sitting under the willow tree in the courtyard, stargazing and basking in the glow of the moonbeams. The water of the turtle duck pond was still and glassy, reflecting the velvety, star-filled skies above them.

Katara had reclined against the tree trunk, and the branches had cast her pretty face into shadows. Neither of them had said anything for a while, and Zuko supposed that was why the words came tumbling out of his mouth of their own volition. It was probably some sort of subconscious thing. Whatever the reason, those four little words spilled out of his mouth and into the still night air with alarming clarity.

"Katara, I love you."

He felt like punching himself. How much of an _idiot _did he have to _be _to just go and let himself _say something like that?!_ And now, she wasn't saying anything back, so he'd obviously scared her. It was a mess! A big, huge, Zuko-made mess!

"I-I didn't mean for that to just come blurting out like that," he quickly added, not daring to look over at her. "Maybe I scared you or you don't…feel the same way, I just had to…" He trailed off, finding himself at a loss for words.

Katara stayed mute.

"It'd be…really nice if you said something," Zuko muttered.

Instead of a verbal response, all he got was the living daylights scared out of him as her head rolled heavily to his shoulder and she snored softly in his ear. She was asleep, and he'd just spilled his guts to her.

"Damn it."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

The third time he tried to tell her, she beat him to the punch.

Just barely.

Katara had just returned from the market where she was buying an engagement present for Sokka and Suki to take back to the South Pole. He could tell she was angry because he'd sent her with two of his guards, his reasoning being that if they were going to be engaged, she was going to have to get used to it. Not that they were engaged yet, one could never tell if someone else was offering Katara's father and Chief Arnook a hefty bribe (as he liked to call it) in order to marry the pretty waterbending-master-slash-princess-slash-war-hero. Hell, for all he knew, Chief Hakoda could be marrying her off to Aang because _nobody_ could beat the Avatar as a husband.

So he sent her with the guards.

She wasn't supposed to find out. They were supposed to tail her and intervene only if necessary, but nothing got past Katara now that she had spent a year mothering a ragtag group of teenagers hell-bent on defeating Ozai. Especially when one of them was Toph. Looking back, maybe he should've told her about the guards in the first place.

"…I mean, what the hell, Zuko!? Do you think that I'm totally incapable of taking care of myself or something!? Just in case you've _forgotten, _I'm a _master waterbender! _I trained _the Avatar!_ I know _how to bloodbend!_ I think I know how to watch my own back, thank you very much!" Katara slapped a hand down on his desk, scattering papers, and leaning over the mess to put her face near his. She was red-faced and breathing heavily, her sapphire eyes crackling with anger. "What _reasoning_ could you _possibly_ have to order your guards to tail me?!"

"Well, I figured you might as well try to get used to it just in case we have to actually get married," Zuko retorted hotly, rising from his seat to meet her caustic glare. He wasn't really angry. Her rage just…provoked his a little bit. "I was just trying to protect you!'

"Get _used to it?!_" Katara shrieked. "Because we _'might have to get married'? _The only reason I'd be willing to _get used to it_ is because I love you!"

With that said, the livid waterbender stormed from his office, slamming the wooden door behind her with a loud _crash! _that caused the decorations on the wall to shake violently. Zuko stood there for a moment, completely dumbfounded and trying to let her final three words sink into his brain. Finally, he walked around his desk and to the door. Opening it and leaning against the frame, he called out the stomping bender's name.

"What?!" she demanded, whirling around.

Zuko grinned at her. "I love you, too," he said, then retreated back into his office.

* * *

Okay, you guys. Only two more left! I hope you've been enjoying these because I'm really sad that this little project is almost over.

Let me know what you thought of this one!


	14. Choices

Collectibles

**Choices**

Song Number Fourteen: Twisted by Carrie Underwood

Quote: _I'm caught up and I'm hangin' on/I'm gonna love you even if it's wrong…_

Summary: Katara didn't care anymore. Who she loved was _her_ choice. And if she loved Zuko…well, that was _her_ decision.

* * *

Hakoda shuffled some papers around, looking for two specific ones. His desk was littered with piles of parchment and unfurled scrolls, each one separated into one of three groups: 'yes,' 'no,' and 'maybe.'

The 'no' pile was, by far, the largest and had taken up most of the Southern Chief's desk and part of his floor. They were meaningless offers presented by unknown families or old men with an excess of money. Hakoda wanted his daughter to marry well, but he didn't want her married to some old man who was liable to kick the proverbial bucket at any given moment. Katara deserved happiness, a family, and a life.

The 'maybes' were starting to meld with the 'no's. After all, the chief had two solid 'yeses' and one shakier one. Why keep the 'maybes' around? Still, there were some nice noble families in that stack. A cousin of the Bei Fongs (it might be nice for Katara to be related to one of her friends. Even if it _was_ a grungy little girl with little patience for manners and a talent for being, perhaps, _too_ blunt), somebody related to Arnook's uncle, a young man who lived in the cushy Upper Ring of Ba Sing Se with his well-to-do parents… All nice prospects, but eventual 'no's nevertheless.

Finally discovering the two definite 'yes' papers, Hakoda presented them to his scowling daughter, saying, "These are the two young men Chief Arnook and I decided on, Katara. We…we want you to choose."

"Oh, yay," she replied, her falsely happy tone deeply sarcastic. "I get to _choose_."

"Katara," her father sighed, "I know this isn't the most ideal of situations, but-"

"But I'm here to serve my people, not my heart, right?" Katara snapped, her voice loud in the otherwise quiet room. Her father's soft glare was enough to silence her and make her sigh in resignation. "Who are they?" she asked, closing her eyes in preparation for the words to come.

"Arnook's nephew Askook and King Kuei's cousin's son Hadyn." Katara's eyes snapped open, and Hakoda found himself staring into the exact replications of Kaya's own eyes. They were the exact same shape, the same shade of blue. The only difference was the emotions burning in the depths of his daughter's eyes. Kaya had been such a peaceful woman, so in awe with the world around her, though it rarely ever changed and was fraught with hatred and death.

Katara's eyes were jaded, filled with knowledge beyond her young years. Hakoda often wondered what his youngest child had seen, what sort of living nightmares she had endured in order to help her airbending friend save the world. It was moments like this that scared him. It was like he could see the entire war in her eyes.

"What about Zuko?" she demanded softly, her voice calm, unaware of how her dad could read her betraying eyes like a book. "Which of your piles did _he_ end up in, Dad?"

After a brief moment of tense silence, Hakoda replied.

"He was our third yes, Katara."

"Then why do I only have two papers?"

"Chief Arnook wasn't so sure about the alliance. I agree with him."

Katara's scowl deepened. "How could you agree with that?! Do you know how much effort and time Zuko put in to convincing his advisors that an alliance between our nations was of vital importance?" she exclaimed. "You and Chief Arnook are looking for the best possible political alliance for our tribes. Zuko's advisors are looking for the best one for the Fire Nation. It's a logical choice!"

"We just…didn't think it best with their history, Katara," Hakoda explained.

"Someone's gonna have to do it, Dad. Who better than us?"

Hakoda frowned, sensing something deeper behind his daughter's insistence. "Katara, why are you pushing so hard for Zuko? Don't you want to consider-"

"I love him, Dad."

The words were so quiet that he almost missed them, but catch on to them he did. He blinked at his daughter, dumbfounded. She was staring persistently at her hands which were bunching the fabric of her parka. At first, he thought he hadn't heard her correctly, but then she looked up at him, her jaw set in a way that he had often seen on Sokka.

"I love him," Katara said a bit louder. "And he loves me back. And that may not mean anything to you or _Chief Arnook_, but it means something to me. So you know what, Dad? I don't care anymore. I'm done with trying to please everybody! I'm done with trying to be perfect and trying to conform to what everyone else thinks of me. I've done that for two years, now. Zuko is the only person I can be myself around! He doesn't have some twisted sense of who I am. The past two months were the best of my life since Mom died and you left us! I was _me_, Dad!" She was crying now, tears snaking one by one from her eyes.

Hakoda opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off.

"You can try to marry me off to one of these guys," Katara waved the proposals under his nose as she rose from her seat, "but I _won't do it._ I don't care anymore! Who I love is my choice! I won't be oppressed because of my status in this tribe. I want to be Katara for once. I'm Katara with him, Dad.

"I can yell, I can cry, I can be the happiest damn person in the world: Zuko doesn't care! He lets me be _me_. Do you know what it's like to find someone like that, Dad?"

He did, and he had never found it again after Kaya was murdered. Did he really want to do that to his only daughter?

"I've been Aang's vision of perfection, I've been Sokka's mother, I've been this tribe's princess, I've been a healer, a bloodbender, a waterbending master…and nothing has ever made me more happy that being myself with Zuko."

With that said, Katara stepped out of the room. Hakoda watched her go in silence, accepting her decision and pulling Zuko's contract from where the 'maybes' were meeting up with the 'no' pile.

* * *

O-kay, you guys. The next one is the last one. I'll get it up really soon, and after that I _swear_ I'll get up the next chapter of _Shaping Destiny._ I'm working on it right now.

Let me know what you thought of this one.

Love,

EmbracingRain


	15. Happy Endings

Collectibles

**Happy Endings**

Song Number Eleven: Black and Gold by Sam Sparro

Quote: _I wanna be next to you/Black and gold…_

Summary: In the end, she was drawn to him. Strangely enough, he was the one she wanted to be with.

* * *

_Dear Zuko,_

_Dad and Chief Arnook have come to a decision. Mostly because Dad managed to convince Arnook that this was for the best. I don't know if you know about the decision yet. I know our messengers are much slower than your messenger hawks. I hope that this letter will reach you before Dad's messenger does; I'm sending it with Hawky Jr. in hopes that it will (yeah, Sokka named his and Suki's bird Hawky Jr. You completely outdid me in the way of an engagement present, Mr. Fire Lord. I get them a hand-woven rug and you get them a _messenger hawk_. What does that say about me? Then again…Hawky Jr.? What does that say about the future of their kids?)._

_Anyway, I'm writing this to let you know that I won't be marrying Askook or Hadyn or Chen or Bo-Qin. And before you get your underwear in a twist, my father threw out all those contracts but one…_

_I bet you can't guess which._

_I'm looking at it right now, and it claims that this poor guy not only owes my father two fishing boats and an airship, but my absolute happiness as well. Which pretty much means this guy has to go along with my every whim._

_What kind of poor sucker would willingly subject himself to that kind of future?_

_I mean, everyone knows how stubborn and willful I am, so I can't imagine what kind of husband I'll be stuck with. I hope he's not a wuss._

_Oh, wait! There's a signature here at the bottom of the page!_

_You know whose it is, Zuko?_

…_Yours._

_You can't see it right now, but I'm wearing a grin that's bigger and more stupid than any grin you've ever seen Sokka's face. And that's pretty much gigantic and idiotic. I'm pretty sure it's because I love you._

_I don't believe in happy endings, Zuko - I've seen too much of the world for that. But I do believe in being happy with one person for life. Or, as you once said, eternity._

_We get to be together, Zuko. Dad and Arnook want us to wait a year or so, and maybe that's still faster than it would've been under conventional circumstances, but that's fine with me. There's not much conventional about us if you think about it, is there?_

_Dad says that once you and your advisors get the papers and everything gets signed, then I can come back to visit you. Suki says that once all of the papers are out of the way, though, she and Sokka will be getting married so you'll just be coming here anyway. I'm so glad you agreed to be Sokka's best man, Zuko. Aang is marrying them and Sokka's absolutely ecstatic to have you both there._

_Suki's recruited me and Toph as well. The only Kyoshi Warrior who's happy she's getting married is Ty Lee. The others are pretty miffed from what I hear._

_Our house is chaos right now, and I absolutely love it. Sokka gathered a meeting of his old 'warriors,' and all the little boys are running around outside, throwing boomerangs and trying to whack each other over the head with clubs. He trained them well._

_I can hear Gran-gran yelling at Toph down the hall. From what I can hear, Toph keeps on fidgeting and messing up the alterations Gran-gran is doing on her dress for Sokka and Suki's wedding._

_If you were sitting here with me right now, you'd be able to hear Suki laughing because one of Sokka's 'warriors' actually managed to clonk him in the head with a club._

_Aang just ran by the window with a group of screaming girls from the village chasing after him. It seems the little girls on Kyoshi Island aren't the only ones not immune to his personality._

_I love this chaos and noise, Zuko. Especially when Dad and Pakku are the only ones trying to maintain an air of dignity in a world of craziness. It's the funniest thing! I have to admit, I'm going to miss it._

_Write back as soon as you get the papers, okay?_

_I love you._

_Love,_

_Katara_

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

_Dear Katara,_

_The papers are signed and should be with your father as you're reading this. When can you get here? Should I send an airship or just come for you myself?_

_That wasn't a very nice trick you tried to play on me, you know. Making me think you were marrying some random guy. I didn't appreciate it. And no, my underwear was not in a twist._

_Your absolute happiness, huh? I don't know, Katara. Absolute happiness is more rare than a happy ending, and there's always something around this palace to worry about. Will your dad settle for me being head over heels for you instead? I can't guarantee your 'absolute' happiness, Katara, but I can tell you that I love you._

_Isn't that what happiness is? Being in love? Because that's what it feels like to me._

_Tell your brother that if he dresses me like a fool in his wedding, he'll come to regret it later. He may be Chief-to-Be, but I'm the Fire Lord right now and I won't have him thinking he can pull the cow-sheep wool over my eyes._

_Of course Toph was fidgeting when your grandmother was trying to fix her dress, Katara. It's _Toph_. I know you really wish she'd be more feminine, but I think that Toph will forever be Toph. And why is Aang allowing little girls to chase him? Doesn't he have a peace summit to be organizing?_

_It's only natural that Suki's warriors be angry about the wedding. They're losing their leader, once you think about it. You can't have a pregnant girl fighting, Katara. It's highly dangerous. So, of course, the Kyoshi Warriors are ticked. They grew up with Suki, they fought alongside her in the war. It's like they're all one person and they just lost a part of their body. You would feel the same way._

_Don't try to deny it, Katara. I know you. You would feel the same way if you were one of her warriors._

_Don't worry about losing the chaos, Katara. There's plenty of it here, especially with you gone. And I'm sure that once everyone visits us you won't miss it as much._

_I love you, I'll see you soon._

_Love,_

_Zuko_

_P.S. I'm not so good with the whole 'love letter' thing, Katara. I'm not so good with letters in general. I'd be much better at this if I was sitting with you right now._

A/N: Awww, that was the last one! I'm so sorry it took me forever to get it up, but I just started college and the work has been hogging all my time. Forgive me?

I'll get the next chapter of _Shaping Destiny_ posted soon. I've been struggling with it a lot and I keep rewriting it. None of the ways I go about writing it makes me happy, but I promise I'll update soon!

Thank you so much to everyone who has read and reviewed! You guys are the best!

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